1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electrical connector assembly, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a high density electrical connector assembly which interconnects a daughter board to a backplane.
2. Description of Related Art
With the development of communication and computer technology, high density electrical connectors with conductive elements in a matrix arrangement are desired to construct a large number of signal transmitting paths between two electronic devices. Such high density electrical connectors are widely used in internal connecting systems of severs, routers and the like devices requiring high speed data processing and communication.
Please refer to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,980,321, 6,152,747, 6,293,827 and 6,267,604, each of which discloses an electrical connector assembly for establishing a connection between a daughter board and a backplane. The connector assembly comprises two mating connector halves, i.e., a header connector connecting with a backplane and a receptacle connector connecting with a daughter card. The backplane and the daughter card are positioned in parallel or perpendicularity to each other. Such electrical connector assembly can be further refereed to Berg Product Catalog published on January 1998 by Berg Electronics, and the website of Teradyne, Inc., at the following Internet address: http://www.teradyne.com/prods/tcs/products/hpi/vhdm/modoconfig.html. Each connector half of the connector assembly comprises an overmolded carrier made of dielectric material and multiple rows and columns of contacts. Each column of the contacts is provided as a separate module. Multiple modules are installed in the insulating carrier to form a complete connector. Generally, all of the modules are substantially identical. However, when it is desired to have different types of modules in the connector in order to meet different requirements of signal transmission, a problem is raised that additional tooling and handling are required for the different types of the modules, thereby increasing manufacturing cost.
It is thus desirable to have a method which can more efficiently manufacture an electrical connector assembly.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an electrical connector assembly interconnecting a daughter board and a backplane, wherein the connector assembly has contacts arranged in a matrix manner and mounted in a plurality of contact modules.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost method for manufacturing an electrical connector assembly.
In order to achieve the objects set forth, a method for manufacturing an electrical connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises the steps of: (a) providing a plurality of first wafers each having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, a plurality of recesses being defined in the first surface, a plurality of first blocks and second blocks projecting outward from the first and second surfaces, respectively; (b) inserting a plurality of signal terminals into corresponding recesses of the first wafers; (c) assembling the plurality of first wafers together in a line, the first surface of each of the first wafers facing to the second surface of an adjacent first wafer whereby a plurality of slots is formed between every two adjacent first wafers, and the first blocks of each of the first wafers are in line with the second blocks of an adjacent first wafer; (d) attaching a plurality of grounding buses onto the first wafers, each of the ground buses includes a body portion covering the second surface of a corresponding first wafer and contacting legs on the first surface of the corresponding first wafer, whereby a first spacer is formed; (e) inserting a plurality of circuit boards into the slots defined between the first wafers, in which the circuit boards electrically engage with corresponding signal terminals and grounding buses; (f) bringing the circuit boards and the first spacer into a first housing to form a receptacle, said housing having a plurality of channels receiving the circuit boards therein; (g) repeating the steps a) to d) to form a second spacer having a structure the same as the first spacer; and (h) providing a second housing receiving the second spacer therein thereby forming a header, inserting the circuit boards into the header to electrically connect therewith thereby forming the electrical connector assembly.